What is correct for me? Need advice

[shuckybucky 107]

Ok without going into the whole story I had 3 surgeries in 4 months with the final one being lap band removal and revision to sleeve on 1/25/13. I have been extremely sick for the past year (due to lap band and side effects and surgeries). Basically for the past 6 - 9 months I was living on popsicles and iced tea. I was severely dehydrated and required a lot of Fluid replacement, 2 units of blood, and large amounts of potassium during my 4 night stay for revision. This leads me to my question. I did lose a lot of weight in the past year but I was definately in starvation mode and I rarely excercised because I had no energy and spent so much time on restriction due to surgeries (prior to the past year I worked out 5 - 6 times per week). Going from having your body in that starvation mode to now being able to eat and taking in more calories (because it isn't painful) should I really eat the amount of calories that myfitnesspal tells me to (1200/day)? I tried to figure my own BMR but I came up with a little over 900 so I don't know if I messed up. I am within 10 pounds of my personal goal weight but have been at 260 since leaving the hospital so I have plateaud. When taking your body from a starvation mode to normal is it expected to plateau? I just do not know what I should do or how many calories to consume. I am back to working out 3-4 days per week. Alternating cycling classes with bodypump because I am so weak and had so much muscle wasting I am really lifting a low weight and the effects linger for days. I'm not even sure if whey Protein is the best for me at this point or if I need a longer acting protein. I am 5'9" and 160 pounds fand 37 years old or anyone that can figure a correct BMR. Anyone been through this? Did it take a while to start losing weight again? I don't have a nutritionist and would want one that understands WLS anyway.

[Ms skinniness 3,003]

You really should be eating at least 1200 calories since your exercising and all. Your body needs fuelin order to burn fat. So try and get as much as you can. I think you need to redue your BMR over, it sounds really low and possibly incorrect....

[shuckybucky 107]

yeah I didn't think it was right so didn't pay any attention to it. This calorie business is tricky!! Now that I can eat even tuna fish is a delight

[Threetimesacharm 1,400]

At 5'9" 160 pounds this seems just right. 1200 calories is low enough to continue to lose weight. If you can try to stay at this caloric intake(or of course more). Glad that you are on the road to recovery.

[mark! 449]

Ok without going into the whole story I had 3 surgeries in 4 months with the final one being lap band removal and revision to sleeve on 1/25/13. I have been extremely sick for the past year (due to lap band and side effects and surgeries). Basically for the past 6 - 9 months I was living on popsicles and iced tea. I was severely dehydrated and required a lot of Fluid replacement, 2 units of blood, and large amounts of potassium during my 4 night stay for revision. This leads me to my question. I did lose a lot of weight in the past year but I was definately in starvation mode and I rarely excercised because I had no energy and spent so much time on restriction due to surgeries (prior to the past year I worked out 5 - 6 times per week). Going from having your body in that starvation mode to now being able to eat and taking in more calories (because it isn't painful) should I really eat the amount of calories that myfitnesspal tells me to (1200/day)? I tried to figure my own BMR but I came up with a little over 900 so I don't know if I messed up. I am within 10 pounds of my personal goal weight but have been at 260 since leaving the hospital so I have plateaud. When taking your body from a starvation mode to normal is it expected to plateau? I just do not know what I should do or how many calories to consume. I am back to working out 3-4 days per week. Alternating cycling classes with bodypump because I am so weak and had so much muscle wasting I am really lifting a low weight and the effects linger for days. I'm not even sure if whey Protein is the best for me at this point or if I need a longer acting Protein. I am 5'9" and 160 pounds fand 37 years old or anyone that can figure a correct BMR. Anyone been through this? Did it take a while to start losing weight again? I don't have a nutritionist and would want one that understands WLS anyway.

Okey dokey, where to start. BMR. Find one, stick to it, and don't change it. Regardless if it's 1200, 1500, doesn't matter. If you were truly 110% actually in "starvation mode" then yes, you will stall as you add calories, and most likely gain a little. It will take time to up-regulate your metabolism again to get the furnace going. Think of your metabolism as a steam engine. How do we get more steam? We add more coal. To make YOUR furnace burn, you have to supply fuel, good whole quality foods. If you were basically on a fasting liquid diet for 6-9 months, you could definitely have messed up your metabolism, slowed it way down, but rest assured, you can get it back to where it needs to be.

On a BMR calculator I used, it came out to be 1500 calories. If I were you, in your key position I would start very low, say 600-700 calories a day and gradually add calories about once every 3-4 weeks until you get to your calorie level, 1200 is a safe bet right now, and then eat 1200 calories for at least a month, every day for that month. Let your body adjust. You may gain some weight, but it's for the long haul here. Afterwards, when you start adding in work outs and such, you can adjust calories according to myfitnesspal when you log your workouts and see how many extra calories you have. To start with, I would just do simple cardio, light and easy and go from there depending on how you feel. Make sure you're getting your Vitamins and Proteins in.

This is where I would start with someone in your position who came to me. But it's hard to be exact with some things. I hope you can take some information from this and make it useful.

[shuckybucky 107]

Hi, there is a really great program that you can used on the internet, it is called "weight by date", in the program it has a number of links for calculators to help you find out how much you burn, vs consume and things of that nature. If you have had the sleeve you have to remember that you are expected to consume less calories. In fact, your body readjusts to your consumption of lees calories and learns to live off of that 800-1200 cal capacity. I would pay special attention to stay within the limits set out by your doctor if you have had the surgery though. From my personal experience I know at one point I measured what my body was used to consuming pre-surgery, which was about 3500 a day, and then compared it to what my RDI was and decided with those calculation that I would eat more than what the doc had told me too, because I wanted to have somewhere to go (cut cals or exercise more) should I plateau...BIG mistake, I lost really great for about the first 2 and a half months, but rather than retraining my body to make better choices and stick with a strict calorie diet I did the exact opposite of what was set out by my doctor.

Now, here I am almost 5 months out and not only has my weight loss been at a stall for a good month and a half, but now I am having to work extra hard to break my fat kid habits and boost my lose back to where it should be. Take my advice, FOLLOW YOU DOCTOR'S INSTRUCTIONS...it is too easy to let old habits sneak back up on you. I hope this helps, good luck to you!

The problem is my doctor didn't give me any advice to follow. My revision was done as an emergency and it is not the same surgeon that did my band. I only had instructions for what to eat but no calorie limits and no Vitamins. I'm completely winging it.

[shuckybucky 107]

Okey dokey, where to start. BMR. Find one, stick to it, and don't change it. Regardless if it's 1200, 1500, doesn't matter. If you were truly 110% actually in "starvation mode" then yes, you will stall as you add calories, and most likely gain a little. It will take time to up-regulate your metabolism again to get the furnace going. Think of your metabolism as a steam engine. How do we get more steam? We add more coal. To make YOUR furnace burn, you have to supply fuel, good whole quality foods. If you were basically on a fasting liquid diet for 6-9 months, you could definitely have messed up your metabolism, slowed it way down, but rest assured, you can get it back to where it needs to be.

On a BMR calculator I used, it came out to be 1500 calories. If I were you, in your key position I would start very low, say 600-700 calories a day and gradually add calories about once every 3-4 weeks until you get to your calorie level, 1200 is a safe bet right now, and then eat 1200 calories for at least a month, every day for that month. Let your body adjust. You may gain some weight, but it's for the long haul here. Afterwards, when you start adding in work outs and such, you can adjust calories according to myfitnesspal when you log your workouts and see how many extra calories you have. To start with, I would just do simple cardio, light and easy and go from there depending on how you feel. Make sure you're getting your Vitamins and Proteins in.

This is where I would start with someone in your position who came to me. But it's hard to be exact with some things. I hope you can take some information from this and make it useful.

okay I'm taking your advice and keeping the 1200 calories. I assume I was in starvation mode because all my labs were bad, my thyroid was running high, my muscle became flaccid, my hair was falling out, I was lethargic (at best). I could literally sleep for the better part of 48 hours at a time ( surprising how little you need to go to the bathroom in this condition) so no need to wake up. My stomach lining had actually started bleeding and my spleen was inflamed. Of course the previous 2 surgeries didn't help over all but they did allow me to keep correcting my Fluid and elecrolytes enough to prolong what inevitably happened. I have no instructions from my doctor, have not seen a nutritionist, and was not told any Vitamins to take. The surgeon that did my revision is not my original surgeon and I think assumed I already knew some of this or I just got lost in the cracks from being an emergency "non patient". I have made an appointment but with spring break it isn't until March 28th. I'm really trying not to gain but I am definately not losing. I have been very hardcore into diet and exercise in the past and I don't want to get to that exhausting all consuming spot but I need to figure out where to start. Thank you for responding. This has helped a lot. I definately track my Protein and do not let that slack even if it means going over calories to get it all in. My hair is getting thicker and healthier so I know I am on track. I only use whey Protein at this point but have considered casein for longer acting energy source.

[shuckybucky 107]

Got ya, I know that it was suggested to me, not to go over 1200 cal, and I have heard a lot of people say that there doctors say stay between 800-1000. I think I have a digital copy of my release diet if you would like me to send you a copy.

That would be great if you don't mind. My email is shuckybucky2002@yahoo.com

[shuckybucky 107]

I just sent them to you' date=' let me know that you received them[/quote']

I got them. Thank you